President Vladimir
Putin told journalists in Samara on 31 August that he
will issue the decree forming the new State Council on 1
September, Russian agencies reported. Putin told
journalists that the council will be "an executive body
and gather for work once every three months." He added
that it will include governors and heads of republics
forming the Russian Federation, will have a presidium
representing each of the seven federal districts and
filled on a rotational basis every six month, and will
be led by the president himself. Although created by
presidential decree, Putin said, the new body will be
known not as the State Council of the President but
rather the State Council of the Russian Federation.
"Moskovskii komsomolets," which is close to Moscow Mayor
Yurii Luzhkov, reported on 1 September that during his
recent meeting with former President Boris Yeltsin,
Putin offered him the post of State Council first
secretary. Yeltsin reportedly asked for time to consider
that offer. PG/LF

PUTIN SAYS RUSSIAN, REGIONAL LEGISLATION VARIANCE HAS
BEEN GROWING...

Speaking in Samara on 31 August,
President Putin reaffirmed the importance of uniform
legislation across the entire country, Russian agencies
reported. But he noted that while only 2,000 regional
legal acts were at variance with federal legislation in
1998, that number had grown to 6,000 by this year, ITAR-
TASS reported. He said that some progress had been made
in reversing this trend but that the resolution of this
problem will take some time. PG

...NOTES 50 PERCENT OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES
INEFFECTIVE...

Even as Russian officials announced that
this year's harvest will preclude the need for importing
grain, President Putin said that more than 50 percent of
agricultural enterprises in the Russian Federation are
ineffective, ITAR-TASS reported. He noted that 6-7
percent of the country's agricultural equipment is being
written off annually, while only 1 percent is being
replaced. Putin's comments came after he spent the day
reviewing agricultural production around Samara. PG

...PRAISES CABINET'S PERFORMANCE

President Putin also
praised the first 100 days of the work of Prime Minister
Mikhail Kasyanov's government, Interfax reported. "All
the tasks given to the government by the president have
been fulfilled," he said, while admitting that "there
are some things the government could be criticized for."
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov dismissed media
reports that he would soon be promoted to become prime
minister as "nonsense," but he declined to say whether
he would accept the post if he were offered it, ITAR-
TASS reported. PG

PUTIN BLAMES OLIGARCHS, MEDIA FOR COUNTRY'S RUIN

A
transcript of President Putin's 22 August remarks to the
families of the sailors of the "Kursk," published by "Vlast"
on 31 August, has him blaming Russia's military fortunes on
the oligarchs and independent media. The oligarchs, Putin
said, "have embezzled enough, bought up the media, and are
now manipulating public opinion." He suggested that these
people had ruined the country over the last 15 years and are
now trying to "show the military and political leadership
that we need" the media. But Putin added that he is "ready to
account for the 100 days that I have been president." With
regard to the Russian navy's shortage of rescue equipment,
Putin said "it has been ruined and there isn't a fig left.
There isn't a fig left in the country." PG

ONE YEAR NEEDED TO REPAIR OSTANKINO TOWER, SAYS
OFFICIAL

Head of the State Construction Committee Anvar
Shamuzafarov predicted on 31 August that it will take
one year to carry out all repairs to the Ostankino
television tower, which was badly damaged in a fire
earlier this week. The first priority, Shamuzafarov
said, will be to restore a passenger elevator, a cargo
lift, as well as two smaller elevators, which he added
will cost some 60 million rubles ($2.4 million) alone,
ITAR-TASS reported. Meanwhile, the government on 31
August made an initial allocation of 16.78 million
rubles for the repairs but has not yet announced the
entire sum it is prepared to spend on restoring the
tower. According to "The Moscow Times" on 1 September,
some parts of the capital are still unable to receive
the three main television stations that resumed
broadcasting in Moscow on 30 August. A Russian
Television spokeswoman explained that the temporary
transmitter those stations are using is not powerful
enough to reach all areas of the city. JC

NORTHERN FLEET SEEKS DIVERS TO RECOVER 'KURSK' CREW
BODIES

The Northern Fleet has published an appeal in a
leading Kaliningrad newspaper for qualified deep sea
divers to help recover the bodies of the 118 men who
perished in the "Kursk" nuclear submarine disaster, AFP
reported on 31 August. The appeal asked military
reservists or civilians with deep sea experience to call
the fleet headquarters. AFP quoted a Northern Fleet
officer as saying that the fleet has only 10 qualified
divers among its ranks. Also on 31 August, "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" quoted retired naval officer and
environmentalist Aleksandr Nikitin as saying that there
could be radiation leaks from the sunken submarine in a
few years. Nikitin dismissed the "collision theory"
favored by Russian defense officials seeking to explain
the cause of the disaster. In his opinion, the submarine
sunk following the explosion of two torpedoes in the
vessel's first compartment. JC

PUTIN NAMES COMMITTEE FOR MILITARY COOPERATION WITH
FOREIGN COUNTRIES

President Putin has issued a decree
appointing Prime Minister Kasyanov to head a
presidential committee for military-technical
cooperation with foreign countries, Interfax reported on
31 August. Other members of the committee include Deputy
Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov and deputy chief of the
presidential administration Sergei Prikhodko, both of
whom will become deputy chairmen of the new body. PG

KASYANOV CRITICIZES PRIVATIZATION EFFORTS

Prime
Minister Kasyanov said on 31 August that privatization
efforts in the early 1990s were frequently inconsistent
with the government's economic policies and aims, ITAR-
TASS reported. "At times, people got the impression that
the sale of state property was an end in itself," he
said, "but this was not correct." Now, he said, the
government must carefully "coordinate the planned
measures in the sphere of privatization with the
structural reforms that the government is planning to
conduct." PG

Deputy Energy Minister Valerii
Garipov told ITAR-TASS on 31 August that Russia can
count on as much as $80 billion in income over the next
decade if it improves the system of product-sharing
agreements. The news agency reported that amendments to
the current system will be considered at a conference in
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on 3 September and then be submitted
to the cabinet within two months. PG

RUSSIAN RESERVES NEAR RECORD HIGH

The Russian Central
Bank's holdings of gold and foreign exchange rose to
$24.1 billion on 25 August, Interfax reported on 31
August. That number is close to the figure of $24.5
billion reached in the middle of 1997. Reserves have
risen $11.6 billion since 1 January 2000. PG

KASYANOV PUTS STATE WAGE ARREARS AT 2 BILLION RUBLES

Prime Minister Kasyanov told ITAR-TASS on 31 August that
wage arrears in the country's state sector now total
nearly 2 billion rubles ($72 million), slightly more
than in April 2000. He said that these arrears reflect
nonpayments by regional budgets as "there have been no
federal budget debts in the state sector for a long
time." But he did acknowledge that there have been
delays in the payment of state wages in August for what
he said were purely technical reasons. PG

TAX CASES OPENED AGAINST ENERGY COMPANIES

Federal Tax
Police Chief Vyacheslav Soltaganov said on 31 August
that his agency has opened criminal cases against five
companies in the energy sector, Interfax reported. He
declined to name the companies already charged and added
that investigations against LUKoil, Sibneft, and AvtoVAZ
are ongoing. PG

Prime Minister Kasyanov on 31 August
directed Russian negotiators to reach agreement with
their Belarusian counterparts on standardized tax
legislation and policy, ITAR-TASS reported. He called
for the creation of a single tax code by July 2003. PG

TRANSPORT CORRIDOR VIA RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION URGED

Pavel
Borodin, the state secretary of the Union of Belarus and
Russia, has urged the creation of a unified transport
corridor from Europe to East Asia through the Russia-
Belarus Union, Interfax reported on 31 August. He said
that the Russian government plans to consider this step,
which he said would become "the backbone of our union
state," at its 7 September session. In other comments,
he said that Moscow and Minsk plan to initial an
agreement before 15 September whereby the Russian
Central Bank will grant the Belarusian National Bank two
stabilization credits, one worth $200 million and the
other 4.5 billion rubles ($160 million). And
contradicting earlier reports, Borodin noted the union
has not decided what to call the common currency, which
is to be introduced at some point in the future. PG

ZHIRINOVSKII BLAMES ALL TRAGEDIES ON WEST

Vladimir
Zhirinovskii, the leader of the extreme nationalist
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, announced on 31
August that he plans to tell the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe at its September session in
Prague about the role that he claims the U.S. special
services have played in recent Russian events, Interfax
reported. "Every recent event, in particular the bomb
blast on Pushkin Square in Moscow, the sinking of the
nuclear-powered submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea, and
the fire in the Ostankino television tower, seems to
have its own causes," Zhirinovskii said, "but they fall
into the pattern of episodes in World War III, which
NATO started against Russia in 1949." PG

PUTIN TO SIGN ECONOMIC PACT ON KURILS DURING JAPAN
VISIT

Deputy head of the presidential administration
Prikhodko was quoted by RIA on 31 August as saying that
during his 3-5 September visit to Japan, President Putin
will sign a pact on developing economic cooperation on
the Kuril Islands. Prikhodko noted that ownership of
those islands is the most complicated issue to be
discussed during the upcoming talks but will not
dominate the agenda. Russia and Japan are locked in a
dispute over who owns the islands, which Soviet troops
seized at the end of World War II. In 1997, they agreed
to work toward finalizing by 2000 a treaty formally
ending wartime hostilities. In an interview with Japan's
"Asahi Shimbun" newspaper published on 31 August,
President Putin was quoted as saying that Japanese-
Russian relations "cannot be based only on the solution
of old problems," ITAR-TASS reported. JC

MOSCOW EXPRESSES 'SURPRISE' AT U.S. POSITION ON POPE

The Russian Foreign Ministry on 31 August expressed its
surprise at what it said are "attempts by U.S. officials
to assert [Edmond Pope's] innocence, something that only
investigating and judicial bodies can do," Interfax
reported. The ministry statement said that "Russian law-
enforcement agencies have evidence that Pope collected
secret data on Russia's defenses." The ministry added
that "attempts to put pressure on the investigating and
judicial bodies do not add to the prestige of the United
States." Indeed, the ministry concluded, such "a policy
is unacceptable." PG

FOREIGN MINISTRY SLAMS WASHINGTON FOR VISA DENIALS

The
Russian Foreign Ministry on 31 August criticized the
U.S. for refusing to grant entry visas to Cuban and
Yugoslav parliamentary deputies wanting to attend a
Inter-Parliamentary Union conference ahead of the
Millennium Summit. The refusal, Moscow said, is a
"flagrant violation" of the U.S.'s obligations to
facilitate the entry of people taking part in UN events.
Reuters points out that while the conference is taking
part at the UN headquarters, the IPU is not a UN
organization. JC

MOSCOW DENOUNCES ESTONIAN 'PROVOCATION' IN SPY CASE

The
Russian Foreign Ministry on 31 August issued a statement
denouncing as an unfounded provocation Estonia's
decision to expel two Russian diplomats for espionage,
ITAR-TASS reported. The ministry said Moscow is
expelling two Estonian diplomats in response. Both
countries said they will not name the individuals
involved or provide any other details (see also Part
II). PG

RUSSIAN, CHINESE BORDER GUARDS TO EXPAND COOPERATION

Russian
and Chinese border guards officials have signed a protocol in
Vladivostok on cooperation between their respective services,
ITAR-TASS reported on 31 August. Cooperation between the two
has cut the number of border violations in Primorskii Krai by
50 percent during this year, the news agency said. According
to the border guards, 317 border violators were detained in
the region in 1998, compared with 224 in 1999 and only 87 in
the first six months of this year. PG

FSB SAYS THREE TURKS INTERCEPTED EN ROUTE FOR CHECHNYA

Three
citizens of Turkey have been detained in Chechnya after
illegally crossing into Russia from Georgia, Russian agencies
reported on 31 August, citing the Federal Security Service
(FSB). According to the FSB, the three men were recruited as
mercenaries by field commander Khattab. They have been
charged with illegally crossing the Russian border. They told
investigators they entered Russia illegally from Georgia via
the Verkhnii Lars border crossing on 20 August in search of
employment. A spokesman for the Georgian Border Guard Service
on 31 August denied that the three men crossed through the
Verkhnii Lars border point on 20 August or that any Turkish
citizens have entered Russia illegally from Georgia. LF

KAZANTSEV OUTLINES PRIORITIES

Speaking at a press conference
in Rostov-na-Donu to mark his first 100 days as presidential
representative to the South Russia federal district, Viktor
Kazantsev said his primary objectives are to bring about
peace and economic stability in the North Caucasus, according
to "Trud" on 1 September. But he rejected calls for talks
with the Chechen leadership on an end to the fighting, saying
that they should either surrender unconditionally or be wiped
out. Reflecting on his own efforts to defuse tensions between
local politicians, Kazantsev said he is sure that interim
Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov and his deputy, Beslan
Gantemirov, "will not fight each other." As for the two rival
candidates in last year's presidential poll in the Republic
of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Kazantsev said that he had
succeeded in "containing" their ongoing feud, but not in
making them friends. LF

OFFICIAL CATEGORIZES ETHNIC GANGS IN MOSCOW

Moscow region
criminal police deputy chief Vladimir Novokshchenov said on
30 August that currently there are 74 ethnic criminal groups
operating in Moscow, ITAR-TASS reported. He noted that those
groups have developed certain specializations: the Georgian
group is engaged in robberies, the Azerbaijani group controls
marketplaces and the flower business, and the Chechen-Ingush
group engages in highway robberies. He noted that many of
these groups have close ties with some customs offices.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry reported that these groups
obtain weapons, ammunition, and explosives from combat zones
in the North Caucasus under the guise of rescue equipment. PG

ANNA PAVLOVA'S ASHES TO RETURN TO RUSSIA

ITAR-TASS reported
on 31 August that the ashes of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova
will be returned to Russia from London for reburial in
Moscow's Novodevichy cemetery. Pavlova, who was born in St.
Petersburg in 1881 and established her reputation at the
city's Mariinskii Theater, moved to London in 1912. When she
died some 20 years later, her ashes were interred in the
Golders Green cemetery. According to the Russian news agency,
it was the dancer's stated wish to find her final resting
place in Russia. JC

ARMENIA, GREECE PLEDGE TO CONTINUE DEFENSE COOPERATION

During a four-day official visit to Armenia that ended on 31
August, Greek Army Chief of Staff General Manousos
Paraioudakis met with his Armenian counterpart, General
Mikael Harutiunian, President Robert Kocharian, Defense
Minister Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian to discuss expanding bilateral military
cooperation, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Both Kocharian
and Markarian characterized Armenian-Greek relations as "a
strategic partnership," but Kocharian stressed that
cooperation between the two countries is not directed at any
third country (meaning Turkey), Noyan Tapan reported.
Paraioudakis and Harutiunian specifically discussed ways of
expanding Armenia's participation in NATO's Partnership for
Peace Program and the training of Armenian military personnel
in Greece. Agreement was also reached on creating a working
group that will consider possible joint defense industry
projects. LF

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTING SUSPECT'S DEATH IN DETENTION
CONFIRMED

Armenian Interior Ministry official Artak
Vartazian confirmed on 31 August that Norayr Yeghiazarian,
who was under investigation for having allegedly sold assault
rifles to the five gunmen who perpetrated the 27 October
Armenian parliament shootings, was found dead in his cell on
29 August, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 31 August 2000). Vartazian said the cause of
Yeghiazarian's death has not yet been clarified but that he
may have inadvertently electrocuted himself with a device for
heating water. LF

LAWYER OF ARRESTED AZERBAIJANI EDITOR'S LAWYER ACCUSED OF
VIOLATIONS

Vidadi Mahmudov, the defense lawyer of arrested
opposition newspaper "Yeni Musavat" editor Rauf Arifloglu,
was warned on 31 August by officials from the Prosecutor-
General's Office that action may be taken against him for
violating the confidentiality of the investigation of
Arifoglu's case, Turan reported. Arifoglu, who has declared a
hunger strike, is refusing to give evidence. He has appealed
to fellow Azerbaijani media editors to abandon their stated
intention to call on the Council of Europe not to grant
Azerbaijan full membership in retaliation for its harassment
of Arifloglu and of the opposition Musavat Party. Also on 31
August, the deputy editor of "Yeni Musavat," Gabil Abbasoglu,
appealed to the leader of Azerbaijan's Muslims, Sheikh
Allahshukur Pashazade, to try to secure Arifoglu's release.
LF

AZERBAIJAN CONCLUDES OIL THEFT INVESTIGATIONS

The
Azerbaijani Interior Ministry Investigation Department has
concluded two separate investigations into the embezzlement
in 1992-1994 of oil products valued at $76 million, Tutan
reported on 31 August. A total of 16 people are implicated in
those thefts, including former parliamentary speaker Rasul
Guliev and former Ministers for Foreign Economic Relations
Hafiz Babaev and Rauf Garaev. Many Baku observers believe the
arrests in March of Babaev, Garaev, and the former director
of the Bakinskii Rabochii plant, Mamed Veliev, were intended
to substantiate the case against Guliev. Veliev's lawyer said
in April that the alleged thefts never took place and that he
can prove the innocence of all those detained (see "RFE/RL
Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 15, 14 April 2000). LF

GEORGIA MAY ASK OSCE TO MONITOR BORDER WITH INGUSHETIA

Georgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Avtandil Napetvaridze
told Caucasus Press on 31 August that Tbilisi may ask the
OSCE to extend its monitoring of the Georgian-Chechen border
to Georgia's border with Ingushetia. The OSCE currently has
42 observers deployed along that border. Those observers last
month affirmed that they have registered no unauthorized
border crossings since beginning their duties in February
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 August 2000). Russian officials
have repeatedly claimed that Chechen fighters and foreign
mercenaries enter Chechnya from Georgian territory. More
recently, they said that federal forces intercepted a group
of such fighters in Ingushetia who had allegedly entered that
republic from Georgia en route to Chechnya (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 25 and 28 August 2000). LF

KAZAKH INDUSTRIAL CONGLOMERATE REJECTS ACCUSATIONS OF TAX
EVASION

The directors of six companies aligned in the
Eurasia Group issued a statement in Almaty on 31 August
denying allegations by the Kazakh official media and by
President Nursultan Nazarbev that they have systematically
withheld taxes, Reuters and Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 4 and 9 August 2000). The statement termed such
media allegations "distorted [and] false" and "intended to
mislead the president, government and society. They said the
group, which claims to produce almost one quarter of the
country's GDP, paid some 16.6 billion tenges ($139 million)
in taxes in 1999. LF

KAZAKHSTAN TO CLOSE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Kazakhstan's
Ministry of Energy, Industry and Trade said in a statement
issued on 31 August that the country's sole nuclear power
plant, in Mangyshlak, will be closed down in February 2001,
Reuters reported. The U.S. will provide $3.8 million toward
the cost of the closure. The plant was originally built to
provide electricity for a desalination plant to provide
drinking water for the Caspian port of Aqtau. LF

PROSECUTORS DEMAND 17-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR KYRGYZ
OPPOSITIONIST

The prosecution in the trial of Topchubek
TurgunAliyev has demanded a 17-year prison term for the
defendant for his alleged leadership in a conspiracy to
assassinate Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev, RFE/RL's Bishkek
bureau reported on 31 August. Twelve people were arrested
last summer in connection with that alleged conspiracy on the
basis of testimony given to the National Security Ministry
that was later retracted. TurgunAliyev was only later linked
to the alleged plot. Three National Security Ministry
officials said in court earlier this week that there is no
concrete proof that the accused had formed a team capable of
implementing the assassination (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29
August 2000). TurgunAliyev is leader of the Erkindik (Liberty)
party and chairman of the Guild of Prisoners of Conscience.
He has twice been imprisoned, in 1995-1996 and 1996-1997, for
criticism of President Akaev. LF

KYRGYZ PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO REPEL ISLAMIC MILITANTS

In a
speech made in Bishkek on 31 August to mark the ninth
anniversary of Kyrgyzstan's declaration of independence,
President Akaev vowed that "international terrorists" trying
to penetrate Kyrgyz territory and to destabilize Central Asia
will be "ignominiously expelled" and destroyed, RFE/RL's
Bishkek bureau reported. Police were placed on special alert
for the anniversary celebrations in Bishkek and other cities,
and have intensified surveillance of vehicles, especially in
the capital, according to Interfax. LF

PAKISTAN ENDORSES TURKMEN PEACE PLAN FOR AFGHANISTAN

Meeting
in Islamabad on 31 August with visiting Turkmen presidential
envoy Boris Shikhmuradov, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul
Sattar affirmed his country's "full support" for Ashgabat's
"important initiative for the restoration of peace in
Afghanistan," Reuters reported. Shikhmuradov had said the
previous day that during talks with the Taliban leadership
earlier this week, the latter had expressed willingness to
begin unconditional peace talks with representatives of Ahmed
Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31
August 2000). The Taliban had earlier made such talks
conditional on Massoud's recognition of them as the
legitimate government. LF

UZBEK PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR STRENGTHENING OF NATIONAL UNITY

Lawmakers on 31 August adopted an appeal to the country's
population to close ranks in order to counter the threat
posed to Uzbekistan's security by "international terrorist
groups," meaning militants from the banned Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan (IMU), Interfax reported. LF

FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES UZBEKISTAN HAS REQUESTED OUTSIDE
HELP

Abdulaziz Komilov told foreign ambassadors in Tashkent
on 31 August that "Uzbekistan has requested no military
assistance from any country for the elimination of terrorists
and is not going to do so," ITAR-TASS reported. He added that
Uzbekistan has adequate resources to protect its borders.
President Islam Karimov has similarly twice denied that
Tashkent has asked Russia for assistance to repel the
Islamists (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 and 31 August 2000).
Speaking in Moscow on 31 August, Colonel General Valerii
Manilov, who is first deputy chief of Russian Army General
Staff, denied that any of the Central Asian states has
requested help from Moscow to combat the IMU, Interfax
reported. But he added that Moscow's capacity for responding
positively to such a request "is being analyzed." LF

BELARUSIAN OFFICIAL SAYS OSCE FOUND 'COMPROMISE' ON ELECTION
OBSERVERS...

Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Ural Latypau
on 31 August said the decision that the previous day's OSCE
conference took on Belarus's 15 October legislative polls was
"a victory of good will, a compromise that opens way for
international observation of the elections" (see "RFE/RL
Newsline, 31 August 2000), RFE/RL's Belarusian Service
reported. The OSCE decided to send a "limited technical
assessment mission" to the elections to the Chamber of
Representatives in Belarus. OSCE Minsk mission head Hans
Georg Wieck told Reuters that the recommendations to send a
truncated observation team were "a compromise allowing to
continue democratization in Belarus with international
involvement. This is neither a victory for the government,
nor for the opposition." Wieck added that the recommendations
must still be approved by the European Parliament and the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. JM

...WHILE OPPOSITIONISTS DEEM OSCE DECISION '80 PERCENT'
SUCCESS

Anatol Lyabedzka and Vintsuk Vyachorka, who spoke on
behalf of the Belarusian opposition at the OSCE conference,
said in Minsk on 31 August that they are satisfied with the
OSCE's recommendations. "The main result [of the
recommendations] is that there will be no international
monitoring of the polls," RFE/RL's Belarusian Service quoted
Lyabedzka as saying. Vyachorka said he disagrees with the
point of the recommendations stating that "progress has been
made in the four major fields related to the organization of
democratic elections [in Belarus]." But he added that this
formulation was the result of "frantic search for a
compromise" during the conference. Lyabedzka and Vyachorka
believe that the opposition scored "an 80-percent success" in
its attempts to prevent the international community from
recognizing Belarus's election process as democratic and
fair. JM

UKRAINE DECLARES ECOLOGICAL DISASTER ZONE IN MASS POISONING
AREA

President Leonid Kuchma on 31 August declared five
villages in Mykolayiv Oblast--Boleslavchyk, Chausove-1,
Chausove-2, Michurino, and Pidhirya--an ecological disaster
zone, following a mysterious mass poisoning in July, Interfax
reported. Health officials are now checking some 6,000
residents of villages around the disaster zone for symptoms
of the poisoning. Ukraine intends to appeal to the World
Health Organization and foreign governments to help it deal
with the emergency situation. The government, meanwhile,
seems split over the reason for the poisoning: some officials
attribute it to a high concentration of nitrates in the soil,
while others point to liquid rocket fuel waste possibly
buried in the disaster area. Kuchma asked Russian President
Vladimir Putin to provide information about the possible
burial of military equipment and toxic substances in Ukraine
in 1991. JM

UKRAINE ASKS MICROSOFT FOUNDER, WORLD BANK TO HELP
COMPUTERIZE SCHOOLS

Education Minister Ivan Kremen on 31
August said his ministry had appealed to Microsoft founder
Bill Gates and the World Bank to help Ukraine computerize its
schools, Interfax reported. Kremen added that the appeal has
so far remained unanswered. The minister noted that the
computerization of schools is one of the priorities in
Ukraine's education system reform, which is currently under
way. He said the government will spend 6.5 million hryvni
($1.2 million) this year to buy computers and provide access
to the Internet for schools in the countryside, adding that
the Internet helps form "not provincial but global
awareness." JM

ESTONIA EXPELS ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPIES...

Estonia has ordered
two Russian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours
for "activities not compatible with their status." Although
the Estonian Foreign Ministry confirmed the expulsion, it
refused to comment on the case. Citing an anonymous
government source from the government, "Postimees" reported
on 1 September that the two expelled diplomats allegedly went
"over the permissible line" in collecting information about
Estonia's border defense. "Postimees" also said it has
"confidential information" that two weeks earlier the Foreign
Ministry asked Russian Ambassador Aleksei Glukhov to remove
the two diplomats. Estonia's Security Police also refused to
comment on the matter. MH

...AND RUSSIA RETALIATES

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued
a statement on 31 August "rejecting the accusations" of
spying from Estonia and calling Tallinn's action a
"deliberate provocation" that "seriously damages Russian-
Estonian relations," BNS reported. Russia retaliated and
ordered two Estonian diplomats expelled, saying, "Estonia
bears the full responsibility for this." The last time the
two countries traded diplomatic expulsions was in May 1996.
Also on 31 August, the two countries' interior ministers met
in Pskov to discuss cooperation in the fight against crime.
MH

OSCE SATISFIED WITH LATVIAN LANGUAGE REGULATIONS

OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities Max van der Stoel on 31
August expressed his satisfaction with the regulations to
Latvia's language law. In his statement, Van der Stoel said
that those regulations are "essentially in conformity with
both the law and Latvia's international obligations," BNS
reported. He also noted that nearly all his recommendations
were taken into account in the final version. However, Van
der Stoel did ask the Latvian government to make some minor
adjustments on issues such as simultaneous translations
during public events. The law and regulations go into effect
on 1 September. MH

CONVICTION IN LATVIAN 'PEDOPHILIA SCANDAL'

The Riga Regional
Court on 31 August convicted Ainars Eisaks of sex charges,
the first conviction among seven people charged in the so-
called "pedophilia scandal." Eisaks, head of the Logos Centrs
modeling agency, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in
jail for "forcing or coercing minors to have sexual
intercourse" and "attempting [to obtain] sexual gratification
in an indecent manner," LETA reported. Eisaks was arrested in
December 1999. MH

ANGRY LITHUANIAN WORKERS PRESSURED TO UNDERTAKE HUNGER
STRIKE?

Workers at the Zalgiris machines tool plant in
Vilnius have accused Eduardas Sabilinskas, a member of the
opposition center-left New Alliance (Social Liberals), of
trying to talk them into following the hunger strike action
taken by workers at the Inkaras footwear factory in Kaunas,
ELTA reported on 31 August. The report added that Sabilinskas
represents the interests of one of the company's creditors.
Apparently, the company owes its workers 8.5 million litas
($2.125 million). The workers have since filed a complaint to
the Prosecutor-General's Office. MH

POLISH PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC OVER FUTURE ECONOMIC TIES WITH
EAST

Aleksander Kwasniewski told a business forum in Krynica
Gorska, southern Poland, on 31 August that he expects
improvements in Poland's economic ties with central and
eastern European countries over the next five years, PAP
reported. The Poland-East Economic Forum brought together
some 800 participants from 15 countries, including Belarus,
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Russia. Kwasniewski
also said Poland is interested in the development of gas and
oil transport infrastructure in Europe. Referring to the
Yamal gas pipeline, he stressed that Poland will not agree to
any pipeline construction project that could harm Ukraine's
interests. JM

SOLIDARITY ENDS 20TH-BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Some 3,000 people
gathered in Gdansk on 31 August to watch former Solidarity
leader Lech Walesa lay a wreath at a monument to the Gdansk
shipyard workers killed by communist army and police troops
in 1970. " I wish to thank you not just for what I am now but
for selecting me as your leader. I thank you for what we
jointly did at that time for Poland, Europe, and the world,"
Walesa told the crowd. Later Cardinal Jozef Glemp and 30
bishops celebrated a special Mass at the monument, which was
attended by top government and parliamentary officials as
well as former British Premier Margaret Thatcher. JM

SENATOR LAMBASTES CZECH PREMIER'S HANDLING OF 'OPERATION
LEAD' AFFAIR

Senator Richard Falbr said on 31 August that
Prime Minister Milos Zeman's handling of the "Operation Lead"
affair is a "very stupid and lame attack on journalists," CTK
reported. In an interview with the daily "Pravo," Falbr, who
also heads the Bohemian and Moravian Confederation of Trade
Unions, said the fact that no one from the Social Democratic
(CSSD) leadership is able to calm Zeman down shows the
"idiotization" of the party leadership. Zeman replied that
the statements "are embarrassing" and that he no longer
wishes to see Falbr. Falbr ran on the CSSD list of candidates
and is a member of the Social Democrat group of senators.
Zeman has been criticized by many for his government's
decision to file charges against two journalists from the
daily "Mlada fronta Dnes" who the cabinet says fabricated the
"Operation Lead" document (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 August
2000). PB

CZECH PREMIER DEFIANT ON TEMELIN

Zeman said on 31 August
that he will not respond in words to Austria's complaints
about the Czech Republic's Temelin nuclear power plant (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 30 August 2000) but in deeds, by putting
the plant into operation, CTK reported. Zeman, speaking in
the north Moravian town of Havirov, said that "in
approximately 14 days I will [respond to the Austrian
statements] by deed," alluding to the putting into operation
of the first reactor at the plant. It is expected to begin
operating between 10-15 September, a timeframe that the
Austrian government and environmental groups are trying to
postpone. PB

AUSTRIA TO INITIATE TEMELIN DEBATE AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Austrian representatives in the European Parliament said on
31 August that they will submit the Temelin nuclear plant
controversy as a topic for discussion in that parliament next
week, CTK reported. Austrian Christian Democrat and European
Parliament deputy Marilies Flemming said it is "perverted"
that the first reactor at Temelin is to be activated soon.
She said the Czech government is trying to bypass EU
standards. It is unclear if the European Parliament will add
the Temelin issue to its agenda. PB

PROSECUTION OF SLOVAK DEPUTY STOPPED

Legal proceedings
against former Interior Minister and current parliamentary
deputy Gustav Krajci, who is charged with abuse of office,
falsifying documents, and marring preparations for an
election, have ended, CTK reported, citing TV Markiza.
Prosecutor Michal Barila withdrew a complaint in a regional
court filed against a Bratislava district court that had
concluded its proceedings against Krajci in late June. Barila
acted in accordance with a Constitutional Court decision that
the amnesty given to Krajci by former Premier Vladimir Meciar
in 1998 cannot be overturned. PB

UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SIGNS AGREEMENTS IN SLOVAKIA

Oleksandr Kuzmuk signed an agreement with his Slovak
counterpart, Pavol Kanis, on sharing information and on the
joint command of military exercises in Slovakia and Ukraine,
CTK reported on 31 August. Kanis and Kuzmuk also discussed
NATO enlargement and European security. Kanis said the two
countries hold similar views on security and cooperation with
NATO and that Kyiv has no "reservations" about Slovakia's
joining the Atlantic alliance. Kuzmuk said an agreement on
military and technical cooperation will be signed soon. PB

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SLOVAKIA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

Carl
Spielvogel, the new U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, presented
his credentials to Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan on 31
August, CTK reported. Spielvogel, a former "New York Times"
columnist and former CEO of three large marketing and
telecommunications companies, said that U.S.-Slovak relations
are strong and that he wants to continue that relationship.
Spielvogel replaces Ralph Johnson, who often clashed with
Premier Vladimir Meciar before leaving in 1998. PB

HUNGARIAN DEFENSE STATE SECRETARY RESIGNS

Defense Ministry
State Secretary Tamas Wachsler announced on 31 August that he
will resign his post effective 15 September but declined to
give reasons for his resignation, Hungarian media reported.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he will accept the
resignation of the FIDESZ appointee. He added that he
considers the Defense Ministry clearly a "Smallholder
portfolio," as the coalition Independent Smallholders Party
have nominated the minister and other state secretaries.
Zsolt Lanyi, the Smallholder chairman of the parliament's
Defense Committee, said Wachsler resigned because he did not
want to obstruct military reform. MSZ

DOES ARREST AWAIT MILOSEVIC IN KOSOVA?

Indicted war criminal
and Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic said in
Belgrade on 31 August that Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic plans to visit Kosova as part of his campaign in
the 24 September elections. Sainovic did not elaborate. In
Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
that Milosevic "can...and should be" arrested in Kosova and
sent to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, which has
indicted him for atrocities in Kosova. In recent weeks,
Milosevic backers in Montenegro have urged him to come to
that republic to campaign. His aides have suggested that he
will go to Montenegro but have provided no other information.
The BBC commented on 1 September that the fact that Milosevic
cannot freely travel to Montenegro or Kosova shows how little
of federal Yugoslavia he actually controls. Elsewhere,
Bernard Kouchner, who is the UN's chief civilian
administrator in Kosova, consulted with European and U.S.
diplomats about Milosevic's plans to hold the Yugoslav
elections in that province (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 August
2000). PM

OSCE SLAMS YUGOSLAV VOTE

The OSCE has criticized the 24
September Serbian and Yugoslav elections as being neither
free nor fair, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 31
August. The OSCE noted in a statement issued in Vienna that
officials of the Milosevic regime will be in charge both of
the polling places and of the counting of ballots. PM

YUGOSLAV MILITARY EXTEND DETENTION OF WESTERNERS

Military
judges in Belgrade extended by four weeks the pre-trial
detention of two Britons and two Canadians on "terrorism"
charges, Reuters reported on 31 August. Canadian Charge
d'affaires Angela Bogdan said: "There have been new
developments. They are very distressing to us." The detention
of the four, as well as that of four Dutch citizens, is
widely seen as an anti-Western propaganda ploy by the regime
in the runup to the 24 September elections. PM

SERBIAN POLICE HOLD UP EU BITUMEN FOR SUBOTICA

Serbian
police ordered a shipment of bitumen from Norway intended for
Subotica to be placed in a customs warehouse rather than
given to the city authorities, Reuters reported on 31 August.
Mayor Jozef Kasza told Reuters by telephone that "the police
did not give any explanation for the move, but we have the
information that the reason is political." The shipment is
part of the EU's "Asphalt for Democracy" program, which is
aimed at enabling opposition-controlled municipalities to
repair roads. PM

ANTI-ROMA FEELINGS ON THE RISE IN SERBIA?

A Serbian human
rights group has registered 90 cases of discrimination
against Roma between October 1999 and July 2000, Vienna's
"Die Presse" reported on 1 September. Anti-Roma violence is
often carried out by skinheads in Belgrade and other Serbian
cities. Police frequently detain Roma as suspects for crimes
simply because they are Roma. The daily suggested that the
anti-Roma climate is linked to the widespread social and
economic decline in Serbia over the past decade. One Rom
said: "Things were different when [Josip Broz] Tito was
alive." PM

SOLANA EXPRESSES UNDERSTANDING FOR MONTENEGRIN ELECTION
BOYCOTT

Javier Solana, who is the EU's chief official for
international security issues, said in Dubrovnik on 31 August
that he hopes the united Serbian opposition will win the
elections, Reuters reported. After speaking to Montenegrin
President Milo Djukanovic about his decision to boycott those
elections, Solana added that he "respects" the Montenegrin
decision, AP reported. Solana stressed: "I understand the
reason why the president has decided that his party would not
participate in these elections." For his part, Djukanovic
said: "We are not for war, but I must say that if Milosevic
continues to jeopardize the stability and security of
Montenegro's citizens, with an aim of provoking a civil war,
we are ready for such an option, to defend Montenegro's
statehood and democracy." PM

MONTENEGRIN PRIME MINISTER: ELECTIONS NO REASON FOR VIOLENCE

After a meeting in Podgorica between officials of the
governing Democratic Party of Socialists and the pro-
Milosevic Socialist People's Party, Prime Minister Filip
Vujanovic said on 31 August that the government's decision to
boycott the elections need not lead to a "confrontation"
between rival political groupings. He added that leaders of
both parties stressed the need for peaceful dialogue,
Montena-fax reported. PM

CROATIAN BALKAN SUMMIT SET FOR 24 NOVEMBER

The French
Foreign Ministry said in a statement on 31 August that the EU
Balkan summit will be held in Croatia on 24 November. The
place where the meeting will be held will be announced later,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Participants will
include the 15 EU countries, Albania, and all former Yugoslav
republics. Serbia will be represented either by the
democratic opposition or by a new, democratic government, but
not by the Milosevic regime. PM

CROATIAN PRESIDENT SLAMS KILLERS OF LEVAR

Stipe Mesic said
in Zagreb on 31 August that the killers of war crimes witness
Milan Levar are people who want to return Croatia to
international isolation, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service
reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 August 2000). He stressed
that police are responsible for what goes on in their
respective zones of responsibility, "Jutarnji list" added. PM

HERZEGOVINIAN CROAT NATIONALISTS WANT 'PURE' UNIVERSITY

The
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) wants to maintain a
separate university "in the Croatian language," RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported. The HDZ regards attempts to
merge Mostar's Croatian university with the city's Muslim
university as a move toward "ethnic homogenization" in the
runup to the 11 November parliamentary elections. PM

ROMANIAN DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION REBORN

After two months of
negotiations, the leaders of five parties signed a protocol
establishing the center-right Romanian Democratic Convention
2000 alliance, Romanian media reported. The founding members
are the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic, the
Union of Rightist Forces, the National Christian Democratic
Alliance, the Romanian Ecologist Forum, and the Party of
Moldavians. Alliance members will run on a single list for
the November parliamentary elections and will support Prime
Minister Mugur Isarescu's presidential candidacy. The
alliance's symbol remains a key but is now surrounded by a
ring of yellow stars on a blue background--a clear allusion
to the EU flag. ZsM

FORMER ROMANIAN OFFICIALS ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION

Romanian
prosecutors have asked the parliament and the president to
give the go-ahead to a criminal investigation against former
government members, "Ziua" reported on 31 August. Prosecutors
investigating the so-called Jimbolia case found evidence that
members of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR)
government might have been involved in the illegal export of
oil products to Yugoslavia before 1996, thus breaching the UN
embargo against the Balkan country. Former Prime Minister
Nicolae Vacaroiu and ministers Doru Ioan Taracila and Aurel
Novac can be prosecuted only if the parliament or president
make such a request. ZsM

STUDY BLASTS ROMANIAN BUREAUCRACY

A U.S.-funded study
published on 31 August shows that Romania's "bureaucratic
maze" smothers free enterprise and fuels official corruption,
Reuters reported. U.S. Ambassador to Romania James Rosapepe
said the study shows the "bureaucratic impediments to the
creation and expansion of the entrepreneurial system in
Romania." Rosapepe said the study can be used as "a blueprint
for war against bureaucracy." He added that the study's
results are "shocking" if Romanian red tape is compared to
that of the U.S.: while it takes one day to register a new
business in the U.S., it can take "anything between 49 and
102 days" in Romania. ZsM

MOLDOVA CELEBRATES ROMANIAN LANGUAGE

Moldovan President
Petru Lucinschi marked the Day of Romanian Language on 31
August by laying a wreath at a monument to Moldovan Prince
Stefan in downtown Chisinau, BasaPress reported. Lucinschi
said that "along with all good things that occurred over the
last 10 years, we cannot be entirely satisfied with the place
that the state language occupies in public life." He added
that indifference has led to "an obvious stagnation of the
Romanian language." Lucinschi added, however, that he "is
proud that more and more families...send their children to
Romanian-language schools." The language holiday has been
celebrated since 1990, when Romanian was declared the
official language and the former Soviet republic reverted
back to the Latin script. PB